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DAVIS COUNTY -- Davis County is parting ways with the company hired to do the majority of criminal justice drug testing in the county. The county made the decision after learning an employee was leaking the dates of what were supposed to be random drug tests.
It was a drug court participant who alerted officials that some of the random drug tests administered by Frontier Probation weren't so random. The employee who supposedly leaked the information about the testing schedule is accused of tipping off as many as five participants.
"We know that many drugs only stay in the system two to three days. They could actually time their drug use so they don't come up with a positive test," said Chief Deputy Davis County Attorney Bill McGuire.
That and other longer running concerns with Frontier contributed to the decision to terminate service with the company. On any given day, the program has about 120 participants who are tested one to four times per week.
"This hit right at the heart of what we're trying to do at drug court, and because of that we felt that was the finial thing that we could handle," McGuire said.
KSL News spoke with the owner of the company, who declined to go on camera but says the contract with the county accounted for about 90 percent of the business. She says she fired the employee minutes after learning the accusations and adds background checks and drug testing is done on all employees. Now, she says they'll work to rebuild the public's trust.
As for Davis County officials, they plan on having sworn officers administer drug tests from here on out. They don't want the focus to shift from the positive work they say their program does onto the actions of a few.
"Overall, those who stay in the program and complete the program, there's a marvelous change in life," McGuire said.
The termination will be effective Aug 1. Officials say those who had the schedule of drug tests have been removed from the program.
The Davis County Attorney's Office is considering pressing charges against the Frontier Probation employee who leaked the information. The owner of the company that employed her would like to see her prosecuted, saying her actions have hurt honest people and their reputations.
E-mail: sdallof@ksl.com
